What happens when a tree service removes a tree?

Removing a tree is mostly planning, with a few hours of cutting at the end. A good tree service looks at the tree and what is around it, gives you a written estimate, checks for power lines, buried utilities and any local approval, then takes the tree down and cleans up. The USDA Forest Service's Tree Owner's Manual says plainly that to remove a large tree, you should hire an arborist,^[1] and its safety advice is that if pruning cannot be done with both feet on the ground, or needs power equipment, you should hire an arborist.^[1]

Here is what to expect, in the order it usually happens.

The visit and the estimate

Most companies want to see the tree before they price it. Expect someone to look at its height and lean, how sound the trunk and limbs are, what sits underneath (house, deck, fence, cars, the neighbor's garage), whether there are wires overhead, and how a truck or lift can reach it. That decides whether the crew can drop the tree in one piece or has to take it down in sections.

Get the estimate in writing. The Tree Owner's Manual suggests the questions to settle on paper: "When will the work be started and completed? Who will be responsible for clean-up? What is the hourly rate for additional work?"^[1] Add what happens to the wood, the chips and the stump.

Ask for proof of insurance as well. The manual recommends general liability insurance of at least $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate, plus worker's compensation insurance, and it explains why: "If an arborist is uninsured, homeowners could be held responsible for damages and injuries that occur as a result of the tree work."^[1] It also advises that you never pay in advance.^[1] What tree removal costs in Virginia covers what goes into the price.

Power lines, buried lines and approvals

Overhead lines. Under Virginia's Overhead High Voltage Line Safety Act, no one working in a trade or business may bring a person, tool, ladder or piece of equipment within 10 feet of an overhead high voltage line,^[2][3] and a high voltage line is any overhead conductor carrying more than 600 volts.^[3] To work closer, the person responsible for the work has to notify the line's owner or operator and wait until safety arrangements are agreed and completed, such as barriers, de-energizing the line, or moving or raising it.^[4] On property used as a residence, the bill passed on for those arrangements is limited to the actual costs above $1,000.^[4] The Tree Owner's Manual's advice to owners is the same in plain words: "If the tree or branches are within 10 feet of utility lines, contact your local utility company."^[1]

Buried lines. Cutting the trunk at ground level does not disturb the soil, but grinding or digging out a stump does. Virginia 811 lists removing stumps among the jobs that need a request at least 3 working days in advance, and its marking service is free.^[5] Its own reminder: "shallow digging is still digging."^[5]

Local rules. On a lot that includes a Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Area, removing vegetation from the 100-foot buffer requires approval by the local government, although "dead, diseased, or dying trees" may be removed under locally adopted standards.^[6] Historic districts, subdivision covenants and trees on the public right-of-way can carry their own rules. The manual's general advice applies: "Check with your city or town to see if there are laws regarding planting and pruning."^[1]

On the day

A crew usually arrives with a truck, a chipper, and either climbing gear, a bucket lift or, for a big tree over a house, a crane. They mark off a work zone, and you should keep children, pets and cars well clear of it until they say otherwise.

Where there is open ground, a tree may come down in one piece. Over a roof, fence or garden, the crew more often works from the top down, cutting the crown into pieces and lowering them on ropes. The trunk then comes down in sections. Throughout, good arborists wear safety equipment, including hard hats and ear protection.^[1]

Branches go through the chipper as the crew works. The trunk is cut into rounds or logs. Expect noise for most of the day on a large tree, and some marks on the lawn where heavy pieces landed or equipment drove.

The wood, the chips and the stump

Wood. You have a choice here. According to the Tree Owner's Manual, the arborist can take the wood away, or cut it and leave it for you in moveable chunks for firewood.^[1] Keep it close to home: insects and diseases can be spread by moving firewood, so do not carry it to another town.^[1]

Chips. Many crews will dump the chips if you ask. The Virginia Department of Forestry notes that one of the best mulches is usually free: arborist wood chips fresh off the truck, used only as a top dressing and not mixed into the soil.^[9]

Stump. The stump is left at ground level unless you pay to grind it. Stump grinding chews the stump and the top of the roots into chips below the soil line. In Virginia's contractor regulations, the landscape service contracting specialty "may remove stumps and roots below grade."^[7] Grinding is worth considering when the tree died of root disease: the Virginia Department of Forestry says Armillaria root rot can survive years in old infected stumps and roots and can grow from infected roots and stumps into nearby trees.^[8]

After a storm

Storm work is the riskiest kind, because the wood is under tension and the tree may already be leaning on something. The Virginia Department of Forestry's advice is to use extreme caution with storm-damaged trees or hire a qualified arborist, tree care professional or logger, and to always verify credentials, licenses and references and be cautious of unsolicited vendors.^[10]

If the tree hit the house, call your insurer before the removal if you can. Virginia's Bureau of Insurance explains that a homeowners policy will pay to remove fallen trees that cause damage to your covered property.^[11] Take photos first.

When to call a licensed pro

Tree removal is pro-only on Loclis. Call a tree service, not a neighbor with a chainsaw, for any tree that is large, leaning toward a building, dead, storm-damaged or anywhere near a wire. If it is touching or close to a power line, call the utility first.

Check that the company is insured, ask whether it has an ISA Certified Arborist, and look up any contractor licence it gives you. Do tree removal companies need a licence in Virginia? explains what the state does and does not license, and how to check a contractor's licence walks through the DPOR lookup. If you are not sure the tree has to go, how to tell if a tree is dead or dangerous helps you decide.

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Describe the tree once and local tree services quote the removal.